Hydrocarbon wells generally include a wellbore that extends from a surface region and/or that extends within a subterranean formation that includes a reservoir fluid, such as liquid and/or gaseous hydrocarbons. Often, it may be desirable to stimulate the subterranean formation, such as to enhance production of the reservoir fluid therefrom. Stimulation of the subterranean formation may be accomplished in a variety of ways and generally includes supplying a stimulant fluid to the subterranean formation to increase reservoir contact. As an example, the stimulation may include supplying an acid to the subterranean formation to acid-treat the subterranean formation and/or to dissolve at least a portion of the subterranean formation. As another example, the stimulation may include fracturing the subterranean formation, such as by supplying a fracturing fluid, which is pumped at a high pressure, to the subterranean formation. The fracturing fluid may include particulate material, such as a proppant, which may at least partially fill fractures that are generated during the fracturing, thereby facilitating flow of the reservoir fluid into the hydrocarbon well, via the fractures, after supply of the fracturing fluid has ceased.
A variety of systems and/or methods have been developed to facilitate stimulation of subterranean formations, and each of these systems and methods generally has inherent benefits and drawbacks. Many of these systems and methods utilize a shape-charge perforation gun to create perforations within a wellbore tubular that defines a tubular conduit and extends within the wellbore, and the stimulant fluid then is provided to the subterranean formation via the perforations. However, such systems suffer from a number of limitations. As an example, the perforations may not be round or may have burrs, which may make it challenging to seal the perforations subsequent to stimulating a given region of the subterranean formation. As another example, the perforations often will erode and/or corrode due to flow of the stimulant fluid, flow of proppant, and/or long-term flow of reservoir fluid therethrough.
As yet another example, a stimulation process may involve sealing perforations with a sealing device, such as a ball sealer, in order to facilitate stimulation of various zones, or regions, of the subterranean formation. In such a stimulation process, a pressure within the tubular conduit must be maintained higher than a pressure within the subterranean formation proximate the tubular conduit or the sealing devices may unseat from corresponding perforations, thereby unsealing the corresponding perforations. In some circumstances, it may be difficult to maintain the higher pressure within the tubular conduit, especially if the perforations are only partially sealed. Additionally or alternatively, unexpected events may cause the pressure within the tubular conduit to drop, thereby unseating the sealing devices from the corresponding perforations. Unseated sealing balls may be difficult to reseat on the corresponding perforations. Such events may be costly and/or time-consuming to mitigate. Thus, there exists a need for selective stimulation ports with preformed sealing device seats and sealing device retainers that are configured to retain sealing devices proximate the corresponding sealing device seats.